What a vault is, and why use one
A vault keeps one piece of work in one place, with its files, its conversations, its instructions and what Bilby has learned about it, for you and anyone you share it with.
6 min read · Updated 11 Nov 2026
Some work doesn't fit in one conversation: a client matter, a rule you'll follow for months, a briefing a team writes together. A vault gives that work a home. You add the documents once, and every conversation in the vault can search them, follows the same instructions, and builds on what Bilby has already learned there.
New vaults are private. Only you can open one until you share it.
What's in a vault
Export controls on rare earths, and what they mean for Acme's clients.
Type @ for tools or / for commands
People
InstructionsEdit
Added to every conversation in this vault.
Cite MOFCOM notices first. Answer in short bullets, with dates.
5- The question box. Ask here to start a conversation in the vault. Bilby works with everything the vault holds.
- The tabs. Conversations, Files, Memory, and Attachments & artifacts: the files attached in its conversations and the files Bilby made there.
- Conversations. My conversations are the ones you started. Shared lists the ones members shared with the vault.
- People. Who can open the vault, and the role each one has.
- Instructions. What every conversation in the vault should know: goals, sources, how answers should look.
How a vault works
Every conversation in a vault starts with the same three things: the vault's files, its instructions and what it has learned. Bilby keeps learning from the vault's conversations, so the next one starts further along.
Files
Add reports, policies, contracts and datasets to Files once, up to 100 MB each. In any conversation in the vault, Bilby searches them when they may answer the question, and cites the file it used. A file shows Reading while Bilby reads it, then Ready.
The owner can also let conversations outside the vault use its Files, for anyone who can open the vault, and so can the organization's owners and admins for a vault everyone in it can open. Each person can still leave a vault out of their own conversations. See Share a vault.
You can also bring a vault into one question yourself. In a conversation outside vaults, type @ and pick the vault under Vaults: Bilby searches its Files for that message. Not sure which vault holds something? Ask Bilby "Which vaults do I have?" and it lists the ones you can open. Neither works for a vault its owner made strict.
Note
A file attached to one conversation only helps that conversation. To make it help every conversation, open Attachments & artifacts and press Add to Files.
Instructions
The vault's owner writes them under Edit vault, and Bilby adds them to every conversation in the vault, for everyone. Use them for what you'd otherwise repeat in every question: the goal of the work, the sources to trust, the format you want.
Memory
As the vault's conversations go on, Bilby writes down what it learns about the research: what it's about, what it covers, how the team works, and where things stand. Every conversation in the vault reads it.
What it's about
China's export controls on rare earths and gallium, for Acme's clients in chips and batteries.
What it covers
MOFCOM licence rules, the Baotou suppliers, three client exposures.
How it works
MOFCOM notices first. Short bullets with dates.
Where things stand
Gallium licences tightened in August. The Q4 briefing is in draft.
To change what it remembers, type in the box under it, such as "We no longer follow Los Bronces". The owner and contributors can do this.
A shared vault keeps its memory to itself: its conversations don't use what Bilby remembers about you, and what the vault learns doesn't reach your other conversations. A vault only you use can work either way; choose under Edit vault › Memory.
Conversations stay private until you share them
A conversation you start in a vault is yours alone, marked Private. To let the vault's members read it, open the conversation and press Share with vault. Contributors can then reply in it too. Only one question runs at a time in a shared conversation, and Bilby shows who is asking.
Move a conversation into or out of a vault
Started a conversation in the wrong place? Open its ⋯ menu, in the sidebar or at the top of the conversation, and choose Move to vault… (or Move… when it's already in a vault). Pick a vault you own or contribute to, or Outside vaults to take it out.
- Only the person who started a conversation can move it.
- It arrives Private. Share it with the vault afterwards if others should read it.
- A conversation shared with its vault has to be made private before it can move out.
- Its attachments go with it. Briefs and other artifacts it made stay where they are.
- Nothing moves into or out of a strict vault.
Why use a vault
| A conversation outside a vault | A conversation in a vault | |
|---|---|---|
| Files Bilby searches | Files attached to that conversation, the Files of vaults whose owners let other conversations use them, and any vault you call with @ | The vault's Files, in every conversation, plus anything attached |
| Instructions | Your own | The vault's, the same for everyone |
| What Bilby builds on | What it remembers about you | What the vault has learned about the work |
| Who can read it | Only you | Only you, until you share it with the vault |
| Working with others | No | Colleagues and people outside your organization, each with a role |
Make a vault when the work will take more than a few conversations, when the same documents keep coming up, or when other people should see it.
Make a vault
Step 1: Create it
In the sidebar, press + next to Vaults, or New vault on the Vaults page. Give it a name. A description and Vault instructions are optional, and you can add them later. Press Create vault. It's private: no one else is added.
Step 2: Add files
Open Files and press Upload, or Upload folder for a whole folder. Wait for each file to show Ready.
Step 3: Ask your first question
Type it in the question box at the top of the vault. Bilby searches the vault's files and follows its instructions. The conversation is private until you share it.
Step 4: Share it, if others should work in it
Press Share at the top right. See Share a vault.
Who can do what
| Owner | Contributor | Viewer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Read files and shared conversations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Start conversations and ask questions | Yes | Yes, on their own AI allowance | No |
| Add or remove files | Yes | Yes | No |
| Change what the vault remembers | Yes | Yes | No |
| Edit its name and instructions | Yes | No | No |
| Share it or delete it | Yes | No | No |
Tip
Keep the vaults you use most in the sidebar: open the vault, press ⋯ at the top right and choose Pin to sidebar. Hide from my list in the same menu tidies away one you no longer need, without leaving it.
Note
Deleting a vault deletes every conversation, file, attachment and artifact in it, for everyone, and can't be undone.
Try it in Bilby
Make a vault for something you're working on now.
In the sidebar, press + next to Vaults, add a file or two, then ask your first question there. It opens in a new tab, so this guide stays here.